At the recently-held town hall meeting to discuss the removal of fuel subsidy, one was bemused by the role given to Mr. Ben Murray- Bruce. The panelists at the session, comprised Ministers of Finance and Petroleum Resources, and several other individuals from media, labour and civil society circles.Quite oddly, beyond the two female ministers, there were no other women on the panel, though there were women in the audience.It was amusing to watch Mr. Murray-Bruce, also known as Mr. Silverbird, speak on behalf of the poor. The imperious-looking Murray-Bruce rose from his seat and strode purposefully towards the rostrum, picked up the microphone and intoned rather magisterially to listeners, that he was going to speak on behalf of the poor man on the street.To say the least, it was rather farcical. The Bruce family is one of the wealthiest in Nigeria; with a string of business concerns that bestrides media entertainment, retail marketing, television and radio sectors both within and outside Nigeria. What could he possibly know about poverty, deprivation and disease' That inexperience so to speak, clearly showed in his presentation; there was no feeling, passion or soul in what he spewed forth. Typical of the entertainment mogul, he started off his presentation with two pop songs with lyrics that he felt suited the occasion. Anyway, he launched into what sounded like a sales pitch on fuel-efficient vehicles that would serve the poor man better in terms of low fares. To be honest, he sounded like an advertman pushing a product.If Mr Bruce wants to see what it feels and tastes like to be dirt poor and live from hand to mouth, he should shed his posh lifestyle, and spend a week or two in the impoverished communities. There's a brilliant TV programme called 'The Secret Millionaire' where real-life millionaires hide their true identities and go into poor communities, live and work for a few days; look for various causes to support. At the end of their stay, they donate some of their money to one social cause or the other. It's about knowing the pain and needs of the poor. Certainly, Ben Murray-Bruce, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), with his pro-establishment aura, was not the best person to have presented issues relating to the poor. Nigerians are no fools; we can tell a heart-felt, passionate presentation from a flaky, superficial one. Murray-Bruce ought not to have accepted to speak on poverty at the town-hall meeting. He did the discussion no favours and watered-down the spirit behind the entire discussion.National conversations about poverty and how to solve it should really be more participatory and down-to-earth. Development practitioners have written proficiently about the fact that globally, poverty has been feminised. Just check out the data and see how many indices affect the lives of women and children. How can National Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN) organise a debate on poverty-related issues and exclude women on a top-rate panel which included prominent development advocates such as Mr. Femi Falana, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, and media practitioners such as Mallam Haruna Mohammed and Mr. John Momoh' Apart from the female ministers, Nigeria boasts of several articulate female anti-poverty advocates who could also have been given a two-minute slot to make a presentation at the debate.The Association as the umbrella body of owners of newspapers, clearly did not conduct a thorough investigation into the value a female could have added to the panel, by drawing attention of the government representatives, to the plight of women and children as far as endemic poverty and removal of the fuel subsidy, are concerned.According to the Women's Learning Partnership:'The feminisation of poverty has recently become a significant problem in Nigeria as in other developing countries with economics in transition as a short-term consequence of the process of political, economic and social transformation. In addition to economic factors, the rigidity of socially ascribed gender roles and women's limited access to power, education, training and productive resources as well as other emerging factors that may lead to securities for families are responsible'.Poverty takes a heavy toll on women and children, and this fact must be recognised in any serious effort to move Nigeria forward.Organisers of future debates on development issues must adopt a wholesale approach for these discussions; for effective results and societal growth. Elitist Ben Murray-Bruce was not the appropriate person to represent the man and woman on the street at that debate.Text only to: 07086279194
Click here to read full news..
